17 PowerPoint Presentation Tips From Pro Presenters [+ Templates]

PowerPoint displays might be skilled, enticing, and actually assist your viewers bear in mind your message.

In case you don’t have a lot expertise, that’s okay — I’m going to arm you with PowerPoint design ideas from professional presenters, the steps you’ll want to construct an interesting deck, and templates that can assist you nail nice slide design.

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Buckle up for quite a lot of step-by-step explanations in addition to ideas and methods that can assist you begin mastering this program. There are extra assets woven in, and also you’ll discover professional views from different HubSpotters alongside the way in which.

Desk of Contents

Make a PowerPoint Presentation

Microsoft PowerPoint is sort of a check of fundamental skilled abilities, and every PowerPoint is mainly a presentation product of a number of slides.

Successful PowerPoints rely on three principal components: your command of PowerPoint’s design instruments, your consideration to presentation processes, and being constant together with your fashion.

Hold these in thoughts as we leap into PowerPoint’s capabilities.

Getting Began

1. Open PowerPoint and click on ‘New.’

A web page with templates will often open routinely, but when not, go to the highest left pane of your display screen and click on New. In case you’ve already created a presentation, choose Open and then double-click the icon to open the present file.

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2. Select a theme or create your personal.

Microsoft gives built-in themes and shade variations that can assist you design your slides with a cohesive look. To select from these pre-built themes, select the File tab once more, choose New, select one of many choices, and click on Create.

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There may be additionally an choice to pick out a clean presentation if you happen to want to start out from scratch. With this selection you should use PowerPoint parts, your design sense, and your model’s shade palette to make your personal theme.

Creating PowerPoint Slides

3. Insert a slide.

Insert a brand new slide by clicking on the Dwelling tab after which the New Slide button. Take into account what content material you wish to placed on the slide, together with heading, textual content, and imagery.

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4. Create quite a lot of slides for various functions.

You don’t wish to current the identical actual slide every time, simply with completely different content material on it. This might bore your viewers, so just remember to create a number of variations.

Take into account what sort of multimedia you’ll be utilizing, and select or create completely different layouts accordingly. At minimal, you’ll want:

• A title slide
• An agenda or desk of contents slide
• A slide that introduces the speaker
• Varied content material slides

5. Use the Duplicate function to save lots of you time.

There’s no must create these designs again and again. Now that you’ve got just a few to attract from, merely duplicate them earlier than inputting your content material:

• On the left pane, right-click the thumbnail of the slide you wish to duplicate.
• Select Duplicate Slide from the pop-up menu.

This may routinely add a replica of this slide to the presentation. From there, you may customise it to your wants.

6. Add pictures to your slide.

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Add photos by clicking Insert and clicking the Footage icon. You’ll be able to add different parts through the use of options within the Dwelling and Insert tabs on the highest ribbon. Discover your format by dragging parts round.

7. Add transitions to your slides (elective).

When finished effectively, transitions can add a bit little bit of motion and showmanship to your presentation. PowerPoint has a number of transitions in-built so that you can select from.

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Choose the Transitions tab from the highest ribbon. Choose a transition for it to preview in your display screen. To customise it additional, click on Impact Choices and play with the options to search out one thing that fits your liking. To take away a transition, choose Transitions and click on None.

8. Add animations to your slides (elective).

Like transitions, animations can add motion, reveal info, and enable you to underscore the factors you wish to hit throughout your speech. To animate a component, observe these steps:

• Choose the component you need animated by clicking on it.
• Select Animations from the highest ribbon.
• You will have the choice to select from a number of results displayed within the ribbon.
• Clicking on one gives you a preview.
• To customise the animation, choose Impact Choices.
• To take away an animation, click on None within the ribbon.

You will even have the choice to maneuver animations round as you edit your slides by clicking on the Animation Pane button, then reordering the animations within the pop-up listing.

Ending Up Your Presentation

9. Save your presentation.

Click on File and Save, ensuring to specify the place you need your PowerPoint to be saved. In case you’re utilizing your slides for schooling or instructing, it may very well be useful to convert your presentation to an online course.

10. Run your presentation.

At all times do a trial run to make sure that your slides are arrange correctly and your animations fireplace the way in which you count on them to.

To current your PowerPoint, go to the Slide Present tab and click on Play from Begin. The slide will cowl your entire display screen in order that your viewers (on this case, you) is solely centered on the visible parts of your presentation.

11. Advance the slides.

Everytime you’re in presentation mode and also you’re finished with one slide, click on your mouse to advance to the following slide.

PowerPoint Fashion

1. Don’t let PowerPoint resolve how you utilize PowerPoint.

Microsoft needed to supply PowerPoint customers with loads of instruments, however this doesn’t imply you need to use all of them. You don’t need it wanting like your tweenage Geocities website and taking part in undesirable midi-files.

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To maintain it skilled, listed below are some key issues to look out for:

• Guarantee that any preset themes complement your wants earlier than you undertake them.
• Keep away from Microsoft Workplace’s default fonts, Calibri and Cambria — they’ll make the presentation really feel underwhelming.
• Professionals ought to by no means use PowerPoint’s motion sounds.
• PowerPoint makes bulleting computerized. Bullets are sometimes acceptable, however not at all times.
• All shapes begin blue with a small shadow. Take away this shadow if it is not wanted, and don’t depart shapes default blue — it reads as a mistake to different PowerPoint customers.

The simplest strategy to know you’re getting it proper is to obtain some templates. We offer 10 free templates that you simply’re welcome to check out. Even if you happen to don’t find yourself utilizing them, you’ll get a way for finest design practices.

2. Create customized slide sizes.

Default slide sizes work for many displays, however it’s possible you’ll want to regulate it for bigger displays and/or weirdly-sized shows. Here is how:

• Within the top-left nook, select File.
• Choose Web page Setup.
• Kind the peak and width of the background you want, and click on OK.
• A dialogue field will seem. Click on Scale if you wish to additionally resize your content material, or Don’t Scale if not. We advocate clicking Don’t Scale, then manually adjusting minor format points.

Professional Tip: You’ll be able to keep away from a headache if you happen to resize your slides earlier than you add any objects to them. In any other case, the scale of your objects will change into skewed.

3. Edit your slide template design.

It‘s a lot simpler to edit your underlying PowerPoint template earlier than you begin — this fashion, you don’t must design every slide by hand. Here is how:

• Choose View within the high navigation.
• Click on Grasp.
• Within the drop-down, click on Slide Grasp.
• Make any modifications you want, then click on Shut Grasp within the high ribbon. All present and future slides in that presentation will use that template.

4. Write textual content together with your viewers in thoughts.

Do not forget that no matter else your PowerPoint presentation does, it must help the incredible content material you’re sharing with stakeholders.

A big a part of a PowerPoint’s content material is textual content, and nice copy could make or break your presentation.

Consider your written work from just a few completely different angles so you realize your complete viewers can see and perceive it.

Hold the quantity of textual content beneath 6-8 traces (or 30 phrases max). Use a minimal of measurement 24 pt. How your textual content is acquired differentiates good presenters from one of the best.

Typography

Selecting the best font is necessary — the notion of your font sort might affect your viewers’s impression of you. The best typeface is a chance to convey constant model persona and professionalism.

Some fonts are seen as clear {and professional}, however this doesn‘t imply they’re boring. A standard mistake is pondering your font is not thrilling sufficient, which could lead on you to decide on a font that distracts out of your message.

I like to recommend sticking to simple serif and sans-serif fonts. Keep away from script fonts due to potential readability points.

That stated, you may nonetheless use enjoyable and eccentric fonts moderately. Offsetting a enjoyable font or giant letters with one thing extra skilled can create an interesting presentation.

Above all, make certain you are constant so your presentation appears cohesive all through every slide. Try this instance from HubSpot’s firm profile templates:

Interested in this presentation template? Download it for free here.

5. Make certain your entire objects are correctly aligned.

Having correctly aligned objects in your slide is the important thing to creating it look polished {and professional}. You’ll be able to manually attempt to line up your photos, however everyone knows how that usually works out.

Do away with the guessing sport and let PowerPoint work its magic to align a number of objects:

• Choose all objects by holding down Shift and clicking on all of them.
• Choose Prepare within the high choices bar, then select Align or Distribute.
• Select the kind of alignment you want.

Right here’s methods to align objects to the slide:

• Choose all objects by holding down Shift and clicking on all of them.
• Choose Prepare within the high choices bar, then select Align or Distribute.
• Choose Align to Slide.
• Choose Prepare within the high choices bar once more, then select Align or Distribute.
• Select the kind of alignment you want.

PowerPoint Design Instruments

6. Use “Format Object” to raised management your objects’ designs.

Format menus can help you do superb changes that in any other case appear not possible.

To do that, right-click on an object and choose the Format Object choice. Right here, you may fine-tune shadows, regulate form measurements, create reflections, and way more. The menu appears like this:

Though the principle choices might be discovered on PowerPoint’s format toolbars, search for full management within the format window menu. Different choices embrace:

• Adjusting textual content inside a form.
• Making a pure perspective shadow behind an object.
• Recoloring pictures manually and with computerized choices.

7. Make the most of PowerPoint’s shapes.

PowerPoint’s form instruments have come a good distance. Right this moment’s shapes embrace a extremely useful Good Shapes perform, which lets you create diagrams and move charts very quickly.

These instruments are particularly precious as a result of paragraphing and bullet lists are boring to take a look at — you should use shapes to assist specific your message extra clearly.

8. Create customized shapes.

While you create a form, proper click on and press Edit Factors to create customized shapes that suit your particular want. As an example, you may reshape arrows to suit the scale you want:

An alternative choice is to mix two shapes collectively. Choose the 2 shapes you’d prefer to work with, then click on Form Format within the high ribbon. Faucet Merge Shapes. There are a number of choices to create customized shapes:

• Mix creates a customized form that has overlapping parts of the 2 earlier shapes lower out.
• Union makes one fully merged form.
• Intersect builds a form of solely the overlapping sections of the 2 earlier shapes.
• Subtract cuts out the overlapping portion of 1 form from the opposite.
• Fragment will cut up your form into completely different components relying on the place they overlap.

9. Crop photos into customized shapes.

It’s also possible to use PowerPoint to crop current photos into new shapes:

• Click on on the picture and choose Image Format within the choices bar.
• Select Crop, then Crop to Form, after which select your required form.

10. Current web sites inside PowerPoint.

Consider it or not, presenting web sites inside PowerPoint is one thing we’re nonetheless having to search out work-arounds for.

From my expertise, these are some ways which have labored up to now which may be useful relying on which model of PowerPoint you might have:

• Historically, to point out an internet site in a PowerPoint slide you’ll simply create a hyperlink to the web page and immediate a separate browser to open.
• Strive including the third-party program LiveWeb that you simply set up in your PowerPoint program. Head to the LiveWeb website and observe the directions. Sadly, Mac customers don’t have an analogous choice.
• Take screenshots of an internet site, insert the picture in your slide, and hyperlink in via a browser. You’ll be able to embed media (resembling a YouTube video) by downloading it on to your pc.
• Some variations allowed a Net Viewer Add-on till Microsoft determined that was a safety threat. Insert>Get Add-ons, seek for Net Viewer, then click on on the Add button.

• Install ClassPoint, which basically places an web window on high of your slide to be used till you’re finished with it, then you may simply transfer to the following slide. You’ll be able to even bookmark the webpage you need forward of time to leap straight to it. Utilizing this does introduce a brand new navigation bar alongside the underside of your presentation. Right here’s a video Introduction to ClassPoint:

• Lastly, PowerPoint Stay is a brand new software that lets you do extra seamless displays throughout video calls and could also be a greater total match for doing displays remotely. Try this video:

11. Strive Utilizing GIFs.

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GIFs are looped animated photos used to speak a temper, concept, info, and way more.

Customers add GIFs to PowerPoints to be humorous or shortly demo a course of. They’re extremely popular with and simply acknowledged by Millenials and Gen Z, and it’s simple so as to add GIFs to your slides:

• Obtain and save the GIF you need.
• Go to the slide you need the GIF on.
• Go to the Dwelling tab, and click on both Insert or Image.
• From the Image drop-down menu, select Image from File.
• Navigate to the place you saved your GIF and choose it. Then, select Insert.
• It would play routinely the second you insert it.

PowerPoint Course of

12. Hold it easy.

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PowerPoint is a superb software to help your presentation with visible info, graphics, and supplemental factors.

Your PowerPoint shouldn’t be your complete presentation, and the weather you do introduce must perform correctly.

If the presentation merely repeats your phrases, has damaged hyperlinks, or exhibits unreadable textual content, the hiccups can change into the take-away of your speak irrespective of how well-spoken the presentation.

Slam-dunking the fundamentals by protecting it easy is the way in which to go. In case your slides have dense and cluttered info, it should distract your viewers and you might lose their consideration.

Briefly? Hold your presentation persuasive by protecting it clear:

• Restrict bullet factors and textual content.
• Keep away from paragraphs and lengthy quotes.
• Preserve “white area” or “detrimental area.”
• Hold percentages, graphs, and knowledge tremendous fundamental.

13. Embed your font recordsdata.

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One fixed drawback presenters have with PowerPoint is that fonts appear to alter when presenters transfer from one pc to a different.

The fonts should not truly altering — the presentation pc simply doesn’t have the same font files installed.

To embed your fonts on a PC:

• Click on File then Choices.
• Open up the Save tab.
• Choose the Embed fonts within the file verify field beneath Protect constancy when sharing this presentation.

Now, your presentation will maintain the font file and your fonts is not going to change if you transfer computer systems.

To embed your fonts on a Mac:

• On the highest bar, click on PowerPoint, then click on Preferences.
• Below Output and Sharing, click on Save.
• Below Font Embedding, click on Embed fonts within the file.

14. Save your slides as a PDF file for backup functions.

In case you’re nonetheless afraid of your presentation displaying up in a different way when it’s time to current, you may create a PDF model simply in case.

It is a good choice if you happen to’ll be presenting on a unique pc as a result of if it doesn’t have Powerpoint put in, you may nonetheless use the system viewer to open a PDF.

The one caveat is that your GIFs, animations, and transitions received’t switch over.

To save lots of your presentation as a PDF file:

• Go to File, then click on Save as…
• Within the pop-up window, click on File Format.
• A drop-down menu will seem. Choose PDF.
• Click on Export.

It’s also possible to go to File, then Export, then choose PDF from the file format menu.

15. Embed multimedia.

PowerPoint lets you both hyperlink to video/audio recordsdata externally or to embed the media immediately in your presentation. For PCs, two nice causes for embedding are:

• Embedding lets you play media immediately in your presentation. It would look way more skilled than switching between home windows.
• Embedding additionally signifies that the file stays throughout the PowerPoint presentation, so it ought to play usually with out further work (besides on a Mac).

In case you use PowerPoint for Mac it will get a bit difficult, however it may be finished:

• At all times convey the video and/or audio file with you in the identical folder because the PowerPoint presentation.
• Solely insert video or audio recordsdata as soon as the presentation and the containing folder have been saved on a transportable drive of their everlasting folder.
• If the presentation will likely be performed on a Home windows pc, then Mac customers want to verify their multimedia recordsdata are in WMV format.
• Think about using the identical working system for designing and presenting, it doesn’t matter what.

16. Carry your personal {hardware}.

Between working techniques, PowerPoint continues to be a bit jumpy. Even between differing PPT variations, issues can change. The simplest repair? Simply convey alongside your personal laptop computer if you’re presenting.

The following best repair is to add your PowerPoint presentation into Google Slides as a backup choice — simply be certain there’s a good web connection and a browser obtainable the place you intend to current.

Google Slides is a cloud-based presentation software program that can present up the identical method on all working techniques.

To import your PowerPoint presentation into Google Slides:

• Navigate to slides.google.com. Be sure you’re signed in to a Google account (ideally your personal).
• Below Begin a brand new presentation, click on the empty field with a plus signal. This may open up a clean presentation.
• Go to File, then Import slides.
• A dialog field will come up. Faucet Add.
• Click on Choose a file out of your system.
• Choose your presentation and click on Open.
• Choose the slides you’d prefer to import. If you wish to import all of them, click on All within the higher right-hand nook of the dialog field.
• Click on Import slides.

Once I examined this out, Google Slides imported every little thing completely, together with a form whose factors I had manipulated. It is a good backup choice to have if you happen to’ll be presenting throughout completely different working techniques.

17. Use Presenter View.

In most presentation conditions, there will likely be each a presenter’s display screen and the principle projected show to your presentation.

PowerPoint has an ideal software referred to as Presenter View, which might be discovered within the Slide Present tab of PowerPoint. Included within the Presenter View is an space for notes, a timer/clock, and a presentation show.

For a lot of presenters, this software can assist unify their spoken presentation and their visible support. You by no means wish to make the PowerPoint look like a stack of notes that you simply’re studying off of.

Use the Presenter View choice to assist create a extra pure presentation.

Professional Tip: Firstly of the presentation, you must also hit CTRL + H to make the cursor disappear. Hitting the “A” key will convey it again if you happen to want it.

Your Subsequent Nice PowerPoint Presentation Begins Right here

Now that you’ve got these fashion, design, and presentation ideas beneath your belt, you need to really feel assured to create your PowerPoint presentation.

However if you happen to can discover other resources to verify your content material hits the mark. In spite of everything, you want a powerful presentation to land your level and make an impression.

With a number of templates to select from — each in PowerPoint and obtainable for free download — you may swiftly be in your strategy to creating displays that wow your audiences.

Editor’s word: This put up was initially printed in September 2013 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.